Tuesday Cardinal Couple

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff columnist and radio personality "Worldwide" Jeff McAdams gives us a meteorlogical dissertation this morning and looks at Softball, Shoni and sports performance.)  

 

Spring is Coming

A TV show has made the phrase "Winter is Coming" popular, but as I type this, its snowing, so I think Winter has arrived.  But, that means that we can now start to say, "Spring is coming."

OK, so basketball is only a few games into their season, but the teams for spring sports have begun their activities for the academic year.  The spring sports at UofL include Softball, Baseball, Lacrosse, and Track and Field.  

Softball is competing in their Oklahoma City Challenge, named for the location of the Women's College World Series that happens in Oklahoma City every year.  The OKC Challenge is in its fourth year and is an intra-squad competition, created by the mind of Teena Murray, Director of Olympic Sports Performance.  Teena is the...some student-athletes would probably add some unsavory adjectives to this description...person responsible for the strength and conditioning of many of the sports at UofL, including Softball and Basketball (she can be seen at the end of the bench at UofL Women's Basketball games and in the health and performance tips shown on the scoreboard during each game).

A real challenge would be moving Bill the Goat and his
pickup truck and then trying to get him out of it.

 The OKC Challenge has a variety of events that aren't known to the players ahead of time but almost invariably involve pushing, pulling, and carrying heaving objects like wooden beams, pickup trucks, exercise sleds, medicine balls, kettle bells, sand bags and the like.  Each event scores points with an opportunity for bonus points each day.  Today is the final of four days of the OKC Challenge with the Red team, consisting of Ally Vaughn, Brittany Sims as captains; and members Kristina Dillard, Tiarra Sanabria, Maggie Ruckenbrod, Kayla Soles, Katie Keller, Hannah Kiyohara, Rachel Houck, Jordan McNary and Brittany Duncan; holding a slight lead at 450 points to 400.

Best of luck to the Red and Black teams in The OKC Challenge and we here at The Cardinal Couple will be looking forward to the first home games of the softball season on February 21st.
 

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Shoni Makes Another List

The elder Schimmel sister was named to the pre-season Naismith Watch List.  Perhaps the Board of Selectors of the Atlanta Tipoff Club needs to consult a calendar as the season...UofL's anyway, and I don't think we were the overall season opener...started 17 days ago.

Regardless of timing, the honor is deserved.  The watch list is comprised of 50 players and is based on last year's accomplishments and their expectations for the current year.  A further winnowing of the list will occur in February down to 30 entries, with a final selection of the 4 players to go on the ballot happening in March.

Shoni was also named to two honest-to-goodness preseason watch lists, for the Wade award and the Wooden Award, which were released in October.

Shoni and her UofL teammates travel to Bowling Green, KY to face Michelle Clark - Heard's WKU Hilltoppers Wednesday night. CARDINAL COUPLE will be there at the game and have a preview of it tomorrow and full report of it in our Thursday edition.

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EDITOR NOTE:

 

 

Thanks to reader and commenter Kenny S. for sending the clip below of WKU head women's basketball coach Michelle Clark-Heard discussing the upcoming Weds. game against Louisville. WKU is looking for a big crowd for this one in the E.A. Diddle Arena and his offering fans free tickets at IGA Grocery Stores in and around the Bowling Green area.

All that and a bag of chips!

It's a "white out " game as well and 1000 white t-shirts will be given out to fans.



COACH HEARD SHARES THE WORD ABOUT UOFL GAME

 

Monday Cardinal Couple -- Watson's farewell

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-USA Womens Olympic Basketball cruises by 52.


-The final Watson column (for awhile)


-Chicken Sandwiches: To eat or not to eat. 


Angel with 10 points and three steals as USA rolls past Angola 90-38. After a slow first quarter and only a 22-12 lead, Angel and company kicked it in gear and took  a 41-18 lead at the half. 69-29 after three and a balanced scoring attack for Geno's ballers.


Three-point shooting still needs work, but an easy-as-expected romp to go to 2-0 in pool play.


Undefeated Turkey next on Wednesday. 


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(David Watson is a special columnist for CARDINAL COUPLE. He'll be taking leave of us for awhile...as he explains in today's column.)


All good things come to an end. 

I've had a great time writing for CARDINAL COUPLE over the last couple of years, but other things are calling...so, this will be the last chance you have to shake your head and wonder what this boy is thinking for awhile. 


My oldest daughter Abby is enrolling in college this fall. Actually, she's already on campus and taking summer classes -- so she's already technically a freshman. 


One down, two to go. 

She fortunate enough to be attending on a couple of partial scholarships -- one for academics and one for field hockey. From what side of the family she got these special talents from to earn these honors is still up to debate -- but we're all proud of her. 


Since it isn't UofL where she's matriculating, I have decided to follow the university where she's attending.

Might even start a website/blog about the trials and tribulations of her athletic and academic pursuits through the eyes of her father. Her mother and I plan on being active parents in any way we can toward the college and have already met several of the field hockey mom and dads. 


If I do start a site, I'll insist Paul put me on the "Sites We Recommend" on the left side of the site. After all, the tremendous growth CARDINAL COUPLE has experienced was certainly spurred by my ground-breaking and thought-provoking articles, right? 


I'll leave with a couple of parting comments. 

First, I'll still be following the pursuits of the University of Louisville sports teams. Louisville looks to be very strong in quite a few different sports this upcoming season and I expect nothing less than conference titles from them in football, both basketball teams, volleyball and softball. 


Tom Jurich has done a great job with facility building, coaching hires and creating excitement for the fans  University of Louisville athletics. The University of Louisville seems committed to raising the academic bar as well. I truly hope that the recruits continue to be top-flight for the sports teams at UofL.


I can't help but wish my daughter had been talented enough to receive a scholarship offer from Louisville...but that's the way it goes and she's happy where she is. 

Finally, I want to thank Paul and Sonja for letting me be a part of the CARDINAL COUPLE world. I know there have been times when readers have disagreed with me and taken a different viewpoint. The way I see it is that if everyone share the same viewpoint, it would be a pretty boring world. Several people can look at the same event and have a different viewpoint on it. I've tried to express my views with you, the CARDINAL COUPLE readers, and I appreciate the chance to do so. 

Not to worry, you've still got quite a few excellent writers here at CARDINAL COUPLE to keep you informed on the joy and excitement that is UofL women's sports. I've enjoyed reading articles by Jenny, Sandy, Mark and the co-owners of the site -- Paul and Sonja. I never got to meet the first three mentioned above, but feel like I know them from their writings. 


Paul has encouraged me to pop in from time-to-time with a column and I've promised him I'll try, so maybe this isn't a final farewell, but a "till we meet again" goodbye. 


Anyway -- it's been fun and I'll be reading, so keep the bar high in your coverage, comments and details of one of the best sports programs in college athletics.


-- David.


(We wish David all the best and thank him for his coverage these past couple of years! We know he and Cheryl will be great college parents.)


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The Chick-Fil-A drama is heating up on the UofL campus and we've received several e-mails about it so we'll take a little time today to discuss it. 

We'll go on record by saying that we like the tasty Chick-Fil-A sandwich and UofL was supplying these to the media earlier this year during the softball tournament. I suppose they were donated by the restuarant or maybe purchased...we're not sure, but they seemed to disappear pretty quickly.


I remember eating mine next to Courier-Journal sports writer C.L. Brown a few innings before Louisville won the game against Valparaiso in dramatic fashion when Alicja Wolny cleared the right-field fence with a base clearer. If I knew she was going to provide such a dramatic ending to the game, I might have asked for two sandwiches and saved one for her.
I don't know if this would have been considered an NCAA violation or whether she likes chicken sandwiches or not. I might have even eaten both sandwiches. I'll ask her at the start of softball season.

The recent statements by the owner of Chick-Fil-A have drawn considerable scrutiny because of the content. Seems he's in favor of traditional marriage and some other situations that have angered the gay and lesbian community. Thus, a boycott has been called and UofL's president James Ramsey and other UofL administration personnel have stated that they'll no longer eat at the campus location. 


I'm trying to cut down on fast food, too. It's worked, I'm now at 192 lbs. and two summers ago I tipped the scales at 240. 

I don't attribute all the weight loss to cutting back on fast food. But, I've stopped drinking soft drinks also. Switched to a low carb, light beer. Started walking more. Ride my bicycle 3-4 times a week. I can tell you my knees feel a whole lot better without the extra 48 pounds.


I still crave fast food, I just don't indulge in it as much. I'm guessing Teena Murray, Director of Sports Performance at UofL would be proud. I've never talked at length with her, but we did an article on her awhile back and I know she tries to get the players to eat healthy. 


I do like the Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich, though, so the moral dilemma begins. Do I join the UofL boycott of the restaurant or give in to my taste buds and still occasionally treat myself to one of their sandwiches? 

I may still get a sandwich occasionally but I will try not to be happy about it. Until that first bite. Then again, I've heard Zaxby's and Wendy's have a pretty good chicken sandwich also. I may have to investigate.


Maybe one of our sponsors, Panera Bread, will invite me over to sample their chicken offerings. I'm about out of cinnamon raisin bread, so that would work...


We live in a country that gives us religious and social freedoms. We live in a country that protects us from oppression. We live in a country that allows entrepreneurial opportunities. We also live in a country where the media can make a big deal over chicken franchises. 


Somewhere, Col. Sanders is rolling over in his grave, clutching his secret spices recipe tightly. 


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USA Womens Olympic basketball tonight against Angola. Go, Angel go! 5:15 EDT time. MSNBC with the live action. Rachel Maddow and Larry the Cable guy with the play-by-play. (Just kidding.) 


We're pretty sure Angel will see some significant minutes. Unless she and LeBron James have decided to enlist in the French Foreign Legion. 




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Teena Murray receives honor

You see her on the sidelines at University of Louisville women's basketball games. Sitting at the end of the bench, joining the huddles during time outs...occasionally chatting with one of the players or assistant coaches. She is at softball games also, working with players before and during games. What you don't see is the hours she and her staff put in helping strengthen, condition and build stamina with all the UofL women's athletes.

She has finally received national recognition. Teena Murray is now a master strength and conditioning coach and will be presented the award Thursday, May 6th in Orlando, FL.

There are only 92 such titles in college sports. The honor is comparable to being selected to the Hall of Fame for a basketball coach.

Murray has had a dramatic effect on the way UofL women student athletes train and prepare for their contests. Her methods have definitely produced results. A third Big East title for the women's track and field squad. A run toward the national title for the University of Louisville women's basketball team in 2009. Softball near the top of the leaderboard year after year. Look at the records of Cardinal softball and basketball and if you research it, you'll see improvement in the standings and performance of the athletes since Murray arrived on the UofL campus in 2004 after serving as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at UConn. I'm not saying she is the sole reason for the across the board improvement but no one can argue with the fact that better trained and conditioned performers acheive better results.

Watch for her the next time you attend a UofL softball, basketball or soccer game. Quietly advising and observing her players, Murray does not seek or grab the spotlight...content to offer a few choice words...but she's constantly reviewing and rating performances, strengths, areas of needed improvement and overall conditioning of the women who don the red and black.

The next time you see Melissa Roth slug one over the wall or Monique Reid blow past an opponent for two...keep in the back of your mind that the assist goes to the way Murray and her staff keep the Cardinal women at peak performance and optimal skills.

I wonder if she could work wonders on a couple of old ex-jocks whose bones sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies each morning when they wake up?

Written by Paul
5/4/10